Bi-Amped B&W 804S's on Rotel 1560

[vernonl]

I know this is somewhat of a touchy subject at AV forums but I got the 804S's with the 1560 as it was the most I could go financially at the time.

I ran them for a while with a single run of cable for a few months and this weekend I decided to use the bi-amping capability of the 1560 to see if it made a difference.

The worst that could happen was that I wasted a couple of bucks on speaker wire. I have to say, the difference is noticable. It borders on the significant and I've noticed a much better bass response from my 804S's now that I have them bi-amped.

I know a few people here were considering the 1560 on a budget so I thought I'd share my findings. I must warn you however that sonically, my room is VERY good. In less ideal conditions, I can't speak to whether the difference would be noticable. I can now FEEL the bass, whereas before it was good but I didn't actually feel it at all.

[timjclark]

Congrats on the better bass! What speaker wire are you using?

It always amazes me how little tweaks, like some wire upgrades, can have a noticeable difference in our systems. And each time you upgrade you are like - how much better could it be if...? FUN!

[vernonl]

No kidding, I've been doing that since I got the system. I got stands to put the speakers on and that made a huge difference too. It's part of the fun right?

The wire is Audioquest, but I'm not sure which type. It's the wire the dealer uses and I liked the sound of the whole setup w/ the 1560 so I figured I should keep it consistent with what I heard on the show floor.

So far I'm quite happy with it, although I've never had the opportunity to change the current wires for something else to even tell if there's a difference. It is a little pricey for my taste but at this stage I'm not experienced enough to know if there's better wire at a better price and I have a good relationship with my dealer so I trust their judgment on quality.

[timjclark]

That is the plus and minus of working closely with a dealer - trust. On the plus side, they know what you have and can help you maximize your performance, for your price with what they sell. And there is the minus, "with what they sell". Maybe there is a product out there that will perform better for the same price, but since they don't sell it, you won't know about it.

I'm not saying that working with one dealer is a bad thing at all; but they are in the business to sell you what they carry. I'm one of those shop around kind of people who wants the most for my dollar. Of course there are diminishing returns of too much shopping around.

[vernonl]

Agreed. Although there's a real limit to the number of high ender dealers in my area up in Canada and these guys sell equipment significantly lower than the exact same equipment sells at other high end dealers. For that reason amongst others, I do trust their input a lot.

Part of the process is learning as you go too, so that's what I plan on doing :T

[tpirovol]

I did the same an noticed the difference as well. I ended up purchasing the Chord cable and it was excellent.